406 - Global Economy

Faculty: Darby, M. or Edwards, S.

The purpose of this course is to provide the analytical framework required for understanding the way changing macroeconomic conditions in the world economy affect the environment faced by modern decision makers and business leaders. Issues related to economic growth, inflation, interest rates behavior, exchange rates determination, global competitiveness, unemployment and the trade account will be explored. At the end of the course it is expected that students will be able to critically asses how possible developments in the world economy -- such as the change in the monetary policy stance by the European Central Bank or the Federal Reserve, for example -- will affect the business environment relevant to their specific industry.

This course has two important characteristics: First, its emphasis is decisively and unmistakably international. The vast majority of examples and case studies will deal with the international economy. The approach taken here recognizes, from the very beginning, that teaching macroeconomics from a closed economy perspective does not make any sense. Second, this course is eminently practical; concepts and models will only be discussed to the extent that they have direct bearing in the understanding of real life situations. An important consequence of this practical perspective is that students will be required to undertake a number of empirical projects throughout the course.